A Team Divided
by rewob17
Summary: It all started with a rumor. No one knew how it started, but it didn't take long for the island of Oahu, indeed all of the islands that made up the state of Hawaii, to hear it. The Five-0 task force was on the outs.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or its characters. No infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: This story started as a short, little one-shot, but Fifilla gave me an idea on how to make it a multi-chapter story instead. She gave me a lot of great ideas for this story and helped keep me on track with plot and characterization. This story is so much better with her input.

Thank you: To Wenwalke - for being my guinea pig when the story was finished to make sure it made sense. Along the way she spotted a confusion for the reader because apparently, I thought all of you could read my mind and know what I had in my head! Trust me, you don't want that! So any confusion that remains is my fault along with any typos or misspellings.

HUGE Thank You: To Fifilla for the awesome ideas on how to make this a longer story, and for the many email discussions on just how exactly I was getting from Point A to Point B and for making sure I had a reason for everything I did! This story would not exist without you!

Enjoy!

* * *

It all started with a rumor. No one knew how it started, but it didn't take long for the island of Oahu, indeed all of the islands that made up the state of Hawaii, to hear it. The Five-0 task force was on the outs. More accurately, the two leaders of said task force were on the outs. With each other. Rumors abounded of fights at crime scenes that became so bad that they had to be physically separated by others at the scene. Several witnesses could attest to the fact that Detective Williams punched Commander McGarrett at a crime scene. Again. Even more witnesses had seen Detective Williams storm out of Five-0 Headquarters. Again.

The day that Danny stormed out of Headquarters had started innocently enough. Kono had arrived carrying a bag of malasadas only to find that Chin and brought a box of coco puffs. The cousins smiled at each other knowing full well they were both trying to clear the tension that seemed to have permeated the Five-0 offices the last month.

"How are they this morning?" Kono asked, risking a glance in Danny and Steve's direction as they worked in their separate offices.

Chin frowned, "Quiet. And that worries me."

"Maybe it'll be okay today," Kono answered hopefully.

"Maybe," Chin shook his head sadly. "I wish Danny would just tell us what's wrong. He hasn't been acting right for weeks."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure he'll tell us in his own time," Kono tried to encourage him. "He knows we're here for him. We just need to be there for him when he's ready."

Suddenly, Steve appeared from his office, cell phone pressed to his ear. He motioned everyone to come to the smart table. Danny joined the others, and if anyone needed any more proof that something was wrong with him, they need look no farther than now when he failed to make a snarky remark about Steve's aneurism face.

"That was the governor," Steve grimaced as he practically slammed his phone down on the smart table. "He's putting the pressure on to solve this latest rash of mob violence."

"We've been working overtime on it for weeks," Chin sighed. "I think we'd all like to be closer to an answer on this."

"Agreed," Steve nodded. "But that drive by on Kalakaua Avenue yesterday has tourists spooked and that spooks the governor."

"What else can we do?" Kono wondered. "They're such a new group that even Kamekona is stumped on who the leader is or where they base their operations."

"Danny, did you get any leads from any of your connections? Do we know if this is someone looking to take over where Frank Salvo left off, or anyone else with prior mob or gang connections? Yakuza offshoot, maybe? More than likely it's a new group from the mainland looking to set up operations here."

Danny sighed and heaved himself off the smart table where he'd been leaning, "No, I don't know who is behind this. So you think that just because I'm from the mainland that I should automatically know who this is?" Danny's face started to turn red as his rant warmed up. "That just because I'm the token Haole in your little group that I know all other Haoles? Or that I know how all Haoles think? Well, I have news for you! I'm tired of being the token Haole or Island Affirmative Action pick or what have you. I'm done here! Find yourself another Haole to do all your work!"

The team watched in stunned silence as Danny slammed his badge down on the smart table and stormed out of the Five-0 offices.

Steve stood in shock for a moment before chasing after Danny. He caught up to him at the bottom of the winding staircase near the main entrance, "Danny! Hey, wait up."

"What, Steven?" Danny sounded peeved. He looked even more so.

"What the hell was that?" Steve waved towards the top of the stairs from the direction they had just come. He concentrated on keeping his voice level, "You don't really believe what you just said, do you? We're your friends. Just tell me what's wrong. Please." He reached out to put his hand on Danny's arm, hoping to lead Danny back to the office with him.

Danny jerked his arm away from Steve and took another step towards the door, "Just leave me alone, okay? I've had enough of this. Just leave me the hell alone!" With that, Danny exited the Palace without once glancing back to see the hurt look on his partner's face.

Chin and Kono looked at Steve expectantly as he came back into the offices. Steve just looked at them and shook his head.

"It's not you, Brah," Chin said sadly. "Something's obviously been eating at Danny for a little while, and he's reached his breaking point."

"What can we do?" Kono looked ready to cry.

Steve shrugged, "We'll just have to keep working this case for now. I'll go talk to him later, but for now we just have to let him go cool off. I'm sure he'll come to his senses and come back before too long."

For the rest of the day the now three-man team worked at trying to uncover the latest mob action and trace it back to a source. They all tried not to sneak looks at Danny's empty office, gold badge sitting on the desk where Steve had put it.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I forgot to mention that this story is totally written so I should be updating regularly.

Thank you for all the kind reviews as well as the follows and favorites. I love hearing everyone's theory as to what is going on - keep them coming! You can thank CinderH for an early posting today as she requested something to read over lunch. Here you go, CinderH!

* * *

Steve sat in his truck in the parking lot of HQ, phone in hand. He'd already been sitting there in the dark for ten minutes debating with himself whether or not he should call his partner. He winced. Ex-partner if Danny was serious about what he said when he left that morning. Steve threw his phone on the dash and rubbed both hands over his face as he thought over the last month. How had things gone so wrong so fast?

Steve wasn't even sure how everything had started, but roughly a month before, he had started noticing Danny's attitude was more negative than usual and their arguments had more heat than humor in them. Then one day Danny had lost it at a crime scene. There wasn't anything special about the scene, but after clearing the suspect's house, Danny had blown up at Steve over his "reckless endangerment of himself and any other law-abiding citizen within a ten mile radius." Whatever Steve's response had been must not have satisfied his partner as he was once again surprised by Danny's right hook. By the time he could see straight again, Danny had left in the Camaro stranding Steve at the scene, and Steve had been forced to get a ride back to the Palace with Duke.

From then on there was no reasoning with him, it seemed. Danny was cross and surly with all of them but most of all with Steve. Steve had tried to talk to him but with no luck. He'd invited Danny over for beers after work, a cookout on his lanai or lunch at Kamekona's shrimp truck, but Danny always said no.

"Screw it!" Steve exclaimed as he threw his truck in gear. He was tired of sitting there feeling depressed about the last few weeks. He had to go talk to Danny and figure out what was wrong. He watched his phone slide across the dashboard as he took the turn out of the parking lot a little too fast. He had decided he didn't need to call Danny first since he didn't want to give him a chance to tell him not to bother coming.

Steve pulled into the parking lot of Danny's apartment complex and tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and purged his mind of all of the arguments he'd been having with Danny in his head. He needed to go into this calm and with no preconceived notions if he was truly going to figure out what was wrong with his friend.

Steve knocked on Danny's apartment door and tried not to be anxious as he waited for an answer. He felt almost as nervous as someone going on a first date rather than waiting for his best friend of more than three years to answer the door. He knocked a second time and huffed out a breath. After a third knock with no answer he decided to let himself in.

"Danny? Hey, you in here, man?" Steve took three steps into the room and stopped short. Steve's jaw dropped as he took in the condition of Danny's living room. There were empty pizza boxes on the coffee table and floor. Chinese take-out containers, some with noodles hanging out, were piled high on the end table by the couch. Several plastic bags with Kamekona's face beaming at him told him Danny had indulged his shrimp scampi addiction a few times. Any other surface was covered with empty beer bottles and cans. A quick glance into the kitchen revealed a sink full of dirty dishes and even more beer bottles, mostly empty.

"What the hell?!"

Steve spun around to find his partner standing in the doorway, case of beer in one hand. "Danny, I..."

"What?" Danny growled as he set the beer down. "What could you possibly need that forced you to break in while I was gone, huh? Didn't get to harass me today so thought you'd come to my home and do it?"

"Danny," Steve didn't point out that he had a key to the apartment, afraid Danny would demand it back. "I'm sorry, man. I just came by to talk to you. You're upset about something, and I want to help. Is it Grace? Is she okay?"

Danny held up a warning finger, "Don't! Don't bring up my daughter! I said all I was going to say to you this morning. Now just leave me alone and get outta here."

"Danny..." Steve pleaded, taking a step towards him. He was close enough to catch a whiff of him now. "Geez, Danny, were you driving?! You smell like a brewery. I think you've had enough to drink for a while."

"Now you're going to criticize me! That's wonderful! Just wonderful!" Danny's tone was the nastiest Steve had ever heard. "I can't get any privacy with you around. You have to know every detail about my life. Well, that's over. I'm done! I'm done with Five-0. I'm done with being a cop, and most of all I am done with you!"

"C'mon, Danny, just talk to me," Steve was hurt and confused. He'd never seen his friend act this way.

"I don't wanna talk," Danny practically roared. "I'm warning you. You need to leave now before I call and have you arrested for trespassing."

"Okay," Steve sighed. "Okay, you win. I'll go, but I mean it when I say I want to help. If you decide you want to talk, give me a call. I don't care what time it is or what I'm doing, I'll drop everything and we can work this out."

"Just go," Danny snarled as he gave Steve a shove out the door and then slammed it behind him.

Steve stood there and heard Danny throw all the locks and then risking a peek through the edge of the curtain, watched as Danny stumbled to the couch, threw himself down and covered his eyes with an arm. He couldn't move for a full minute as he watched his partner through the window. "Oh, Danny, what is going on with you?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow, you guys are blowing me away with all the reviews, favorites and follows! Thank you so much.

Mimi05 requested a chapter for dinner since CinderH got her chapter to read over lunch... I will oblige and post a second chapter today, but please note that I do not post chapters for midnight snacks! And extra posting this weekend is not likely to happen though I will do my best to post a chapter a day.

* * *

The next morning Kono went to the office early to find Steve already there. "Hey, Boss, you're here pretty early this morning. I caught some early waves and thought I'd just get a head start on the day but didn't expect anyone else to be here yet."

"Oh, yeah," Steve glanced at her and back at the paper he was looking at. "I just thought I'd try to make some headway on this."

"How long have you been here?"

Steve shrugged, distractedly, "I don't know. Couple of hours, I guess."

Kono glanced at the clock which showed a little after seven, "Rough night?"

Steve sighed and put down the file he'd been trying to read for an hour. He looked up at Kono and gestured for her to have a seat, "I went to see Danny last night."

"I take it that didn't go so well?" Kono winced.

Steve shook his head, "I've never seen him like that, Kono. His apartment is a pit. I mean, I've seen him make a mess, but this was dirty and sloppy. Then when he came home..."

"Wait," Kono leaned forward. "You mean, he wasn't home when you got there."

Steve leaned back and rubbed his hands over his face before looking at her again, "No, and he was plenty mad when he found me there. He's never minded before that I let myself in, but this time he accused me of trespassing and threatened to have me arrested."

Kono snorted and tried not to laugh. Any other time that would have been funny.

"He'd been drinking. A lot, from the smell of him." Steve still looked a little shocked. "And he'd been driving. He came back with a case of beer, and his apartment is already filled with empty beer cans and bottles. I've never seen him drunk before, and he would certainly never drive drunk. I mean, we've gotten pretty happy before, but he's always told me he didn't like getting drunk because you never know when we'll get called in to a case or when he might need to pick up Grace or something. I really wish I knew what was going on with him."

Kono frowned, "Do you think it has anything to do with Grace being gone with Rachel for so long? I mean, they've been gone, what, six weeks or something, and they won't be back until the end of the summer."

Steve shrugged, "I wish I knew. I tried to ask, but the minute I asked about Grace, he shut me down. He's always talked with me about that kind of stuff before so why not now?"

"Maybe there's a good reason?" Kono tried to placate him.

"Yeah, Brah," Chin interjected as he arrived in the doorway. "We'll figure it out. We'll get him back. He probably just needs a little time and space to work out whatever he's going through."

Steve nodded, not convinced. "I hope so. Alright, since we're here, we might as well get to work."

The three gathered around the smart table again to try to figure out the puzzle that was the new mob threat on the islands. They spent the day sifting through information and tracking down leads and tips from informants but by the end of the day, they didn't feel any closer to knowing who the leader was or where they should be looking for the group.

"That's it," Steve glanced at the clock at almost 8:00 that night and decided they'd had more than enough. "We're not getting anywhere, and we're all tired. You guys should have said something hours ago; I didn't realize what time it was."

The cousins shrugged, "It's okay, we know the pressure is on."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. None of them needed to say that the pressure was not only due to the case but their missing teammate as well. "See you all in the morning."

Chin and Kono watched as Steve walked out. Kono frowned and with tears in her eyes looked at Chin, "He looks like a lost puppy."

"Or someone who's lost his best friend," Chin said sadly. He put an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "Hey, it'll be okay. We'll get through this."

"Yeah," Kono gave her cousin a quick look at the tone in his voice. "What? What are you going to do?"

"What?" Chin held his hands out in the universal signal for "I'm innocent." He grinned, "What makes you think I'm going to do anything?"

"I've known you too long, Cuz. You're up to something. What is it?"

Chin shrugged, still grinning. "You know how Danny is. He might not be willing to talk to Steve right now, but maybe I can get him to talk to me. And if he won't talk, well, then he can just listen."

"If you say so," Kono smiled. "I'm headed home. See you in the morning."

Chin waved at her as he walked out the door, on his mission to find Danny and talk some sense into him.

Two hours later, Chin had finally tracked down Danny at a less than reputable bar in a part of Honolulu that tourists were warned against visiting. As he stepped inside, he had to pause and let his eyes adjust to the dark surroundings. He finally spotted Danny at the far side of the bar. "Hey, Brah, may I join you?"

Danny barely looked up as Chin sat on the barstool next to him, "What are you doing here, Chin?"

"Came to check up on a friend."

"How'd you find me, anyway?" Danny still refused to make eye contact with him.

"I have my ways," Chin shrugged. "I really thought I'd find you over at JJ's, but he said he hadn't seen you in a while."

Danny grunted but didn't say anything more as he took a swig of beer from the bottle in front of him. There were four more bottles and two shot glasses in front of him. He gestured to the bartender who quickly brought over another shot glass with clear liquid in it before scampering away.

Chin quirked an eyebrow at the shot in front of Danny and the bartender's behavior. "Whatcha drinking?"

Danny slammed home the shot before growling, "Water."

"Whatever you say," Chin nodded. "You aren't driving home tonight, are you?"

"McGarrett send you?" Danny's voice was harsh as he sneered and continued to avoid meeting Chin's gaze.

"No," Chin assured him. "I came to see if I could find out what is wrong with my friend. We're all worried about you, Danny. You know you can come to us with whatever is bothering you, right?"

"Who says anything is bothering me?" Danny slurred.

"C'mon, man, this isn't like you. You haven't been acting yourself for weeks. You know we'll help you in whatever way you need. We're your friends, Danny, don't shut us out like this. Steve's really upset and worried about you, and you know with all of his abandonment issues, he's going to take it hard if you don't come back. And besides, if you don't come back to keep him in check, he's likely to blow up the island or something."

"Let him," Danny slammed the shot glass onto the counter and lurched to his feet. Without another look, and without ever having looked Chin in the eye, Danny staggered across the bar shoving two people to the side as he went. He disappeared out the door into the darkness.

Chin tried to follow to keep Danny from driving himself home in his present condition, but despite being not far behind, Chin couldn't find him as he exited the bar. Chin got in his car and debated what to do next. Something had to be done, but he was at a total loss as to what.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Have I mentioned lately that I love all of your reviews? People are coming up with some very interesting theories as to what is going on with Danny - I love it! Keep 'em coming!

This chapter is for Irene Claire - feel better soon. Happy reading!

* * *

The next day after work Steve swung by Kamekona's to grab supper and talk to someone. He missed having beers with Danny or having Danny stop by in the evening to just shoot the breeze and hang out. Catherine was halfway through a four month deployment so he was feeling a little lonely all things considered. Chin and Kono had a family thing going on, and he was pretty sure they were tired of him moping around anyway so he decided Kamekona was his best bet. He was surprised to pull up and see Danny's Camaro sitting there. He spotted the familiar blonde form sitting at a picnic table, staring at the water.

Approaching carefully, Steve sat down opposite of Danny, "Hey, Buddy, it's good to see you."

Danny flinched, but didn't turn and didn't respond. He continued to stare out at the water.

Steve took a deep breath and decided to go for broke since Danny hadn't fled at the sight of him. "Look, Danny, I don't know what's bothering you lately, or if you're in some kind of trouble, but I meant what I said the other night. I will help you with whatever it is if you'll just tell me. If it's something I've done to you, I'll make it right. Whatever is wrong, just let us help. We're your ohana. Don't shut us out. Please."

Danny turned and for the first time in weeks, looked Steve in the eye, and despite the stale alcohol smell emanating from him, his eyes were clear. "Steve, listen I..." Danny's voice was soft and full of remorse before his eyes flicked around his surroundings and when they landed back on Steve, his voice changed to match the sudden hardness in his eyes. "Just leave me alone, okay." He stood and headed for his car, looking back over his shoulder, "I'm not who you think I am. Just let it go."

Steve's jaw dropped in shock at the sudden transformation and cryptic words. He was more convinced than ever that something was very wrong with his friend. He watched as Danny slammed the car door shut and peeled out of the parking lot, tires squealing.

H

5

0

The next two days were tense and awkward for the remaining members of Five-0. They went through the motions of working the case and made a little progress though they were all still distracted and bothered by Danny's absence.

That changed when Duke came in to talk to Steve early one morning. Chin and Kono watched from the smart table as whatever Duke said made Steve frown and throw his arms into the air in frustration. Duke left, throwing sympathetic glances at Chin and Kono as he did so.

The cousins practically ran to Steve's office to find out what was going on. Steve was pacing his office in long strides so they leaned in from the doorway to avoid being mowed down as he went by. Chin spoke first, "What's going on, Brah?"

Steve started to tell them twice, but each time he held up a hand and continued pacing as he sorted out what he was going to say. He finally took a deep breath and then motioned for them to sit as he perched on the edge of his desk. "Duke saw Danny last night. He didn't talk to him, and he doesn't think Danny saw him."

"So what's the problem?" Kono wondered.

"It was who he was with, and what it looked like was happening."

"What did Duke see?" Chin had a growing sense of unease as Steve continued.

Steve looked at the cousins and let out a deep breath. He felt like he was about to ruin their faith in Danny. He knew his own had taken a severe beating. "Danny was meeting with Dennis Okuna. He's a member of the Yakuza suspected of being the lead player in a faction trying to wrestle control from Adam... Sorry, Kono."

Kono shrugged, "Adam's doing what he can to legitimize his operations, but not all of the Yakuza want to play ball. It's taking time to figure out who he can trust."

"What else?" Chin prompted.

"Danny received a couple of packages from Okuna. Duke said one looked like it may have been money. He said it looked like Danny counted it to make sure it was all there."

"What about the other package?"

Steve shook his head, "Duke couldn't be sure, but he got the impression it may have been a gun. It sounded like he was kind of chummy with Okuna"

"But why?" Chin was puzzled. "Why would Danny need money and a gun from Okuna?"

"I don't know, and that worries me." Steve admitted. "I don't know what Danny is doing,but I aim to find out. Duke offered to bring in Okuna for questioning, but I told him to hold off for now. I'm going to go talk to Danny, and if he won't talk to me this time I'm tempted to bring Okuna and Danny in and find out what the hell is going on."

Chin frowned, but wasn't sure what else to say. Kono said nothing, biting her lip at the thought of bringing Danny in for questioning.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," Steve declared. "I've got to find out what's going on. It sounds like he's in trouble, and whatever it is, he's going to have to realize that we will help him no matter what. I don't understand why he's being so pig-headed about telling us what's wrong and he's..."

Chin stood and put a hand on Steve's shoulder, ending his very Danny-esque rant. "You sure that's a good idea right now, Brah? You go see Danny right now while you're upset and he's being stubborn... You know nothing good is going to come of that."

Steve took a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself a little. "You're probably right. How about we take an early lunch at Kamekona's? Judging by Danny's apartment, he's been going there a lot so maybe we'll run into him or maybe Kamekona will have seen him."

Chin nodded, "Sounds good. You cool down, and Kono and I will go work on a couple of leads that have come in."

"Thanks, Chin." Steve tried to smile,

"Hey, Boss," Kono patted his arm on her way by. "It'll be okay."

"It has to, Kono," Steve nodded. "It just has to."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: This chapter is for everyone who has let me know their theory, but I don't think this chapter will probably help you out any... soon though, very soon.

* * *

When the trio pulled up to the shrimp truck a few hours later, they were shocked to find the area cordoned off with police tape. The flashing lights of four HPD cruisers and one ambulance attracting a crowd of nearby beachgoers. They quickly spotted Kamekona standing by the back of the ambulance while an EMT worked on his arm. They ducked under the police tape and ran over. "What happened?"

"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Kamekona swatted away the EMT who was finishing off the bandage on his arm.

"Kamekona, are you okay?" Kono pointed at his arm. "What happened?"

"Didn't nobody call you yet? They snatched Jersey!"

"What?" Steve looked around. "Someone took Danny? From here? And nobody thought to call us?"

"Why don't you tell us from the beginning, Brah?" Chin suggested, putting a restraining hand on Steve's arm to keep him from badgering HPD. There would be time for that later.

"Flippa and I was getting ready for the lunch rush when we saw the Camaro pull up," Kamekona started to explain. "I was looking out for him because he's been coming at the same time each day for a week or so now so shoots, I knew he'd be here soon."

"Danny's been coming here every day at the same time?" Steve cut in. "What's he been doing? Meeting someone?"

"No, Brah. He always gets it to go."

"Anyway," Kono urged him to continue the story.

"So sure 'nough, just as I got his plate of shrimp scampi ready, I see him pull in. As soon as he got out of the car, some big Haole in a suit jumped out of a black SUV and clocked him over the head with a gun! They shoved him back in his car and the guy got in and drove off with him. He musta had his phone in hand 'cuz I'm sure I saw it go flyin' when they hit him."

"How long ago was this?" Steve looked around as if he'd still see them getting away.

"Half an hour now," Kamekona frowned. "I'm sorry, Brah, I tried to get someone to call you, and they wouldn't let me back in my truck to get my phone or I woulda called."

"So what happened to your arm?" Kono wondered.

Kamekona glanced at the bandage on his upper arm. "I was getting out to see if I could help our favorite white boy and they pulled guns. They just winged me, but they really got my truck, Sistah. That's why they won't let me in to get my phone."

Kono looked over and sure enough, there were several bullet holes in the shrimp truck. She winced, knowing that it probably hurt him more than his arm.

"Sorry, big guy," Steve tried to focus on Kamekona though his thoughts were whirling about the situation with Danny. What had he gotten himself into, and why had he been taken? And by whom? "Who's in charge here? I'm going to go have words with him."

Chin and Kono watched as Steve stalked over to a red-headed sergeant who seemed to be directing the actions of the other officers. Chin said dryly, "Doesn't look like he's been here long. Look at that sunburn."

"He must have transferred in from the mainland." Kono agreed.

Steve suddenly turned from the sergeant and made his way back to the cousins and Kamekona. His face was stormy, "Unbelievable! The guys been here less than a month, and he's telling me that he's going to head up this investigation and we're to stay out of it! He says he didn't need to call because Danny walked out and is no longer a detective so we don't need to know what's going on because he's no longer Five-0. He won't even let me have his cell phone!" Steve continued to mutter as he made his way back to his truck.

Chin glanced at the sun-burned sergeant and shook his head. "That Haole isn't gonna last long. If the sun doesn't make him leave, Steve will! He has no idea what he just started. Steve is going to tear this island apart looking for Danny."

Kono chewed her lip nervously and glanced at Kamekona, "Don't worry, Kamekona, we'll get Danny back and we'll take care of your shrimp truck for you."

"When you get him back, you let me know," Kamekona nodded, more to himself than to them. "Your ohana's been broken long enough. You get Jersey back and lunch is on me."

"Thanks," Chin patted his good arm. "We better go before Steve leaves without us or gives that sergeant a piece of his mind again."

"Go. Go." Kamekona urged. "I'll be okay." They watched as he walked towards his shrimp truck, arms outstretched as if to give it a hug. The last thing they heard was him cooing, "It's okay, baby. I'll get you fixed up good as new."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I love you all, you know that right? Thank you all for the terrific reviews. This chapter will probably give you even more questions than answers, but we're getting there. Trust me.

* * *

After leaving Kamekona's shrimp truck, the remaining Five-0 members headed back to their office to start looking for Danny. Steve was tight-lipped and tense while Chin was more introspective than normal while casting concerned glances in Steve's direction. Kono was literally wringing her hands which lay in her lap. A few times she would open her mouth as if to speak and then clamp it shut when she looked at Steve's face.

The trio arrived back at HQ to find Duke coming out of their offices, "Steve! I just heard about Danny. If you need any help, just let me know."

"Thanks, Duke," Steve sighed. "Officially I can't ask for your help since we aren't lead on this investigation. Hell, we've been told to stay out of it!"

"What?" Duke couldn't believe his ears. "The governor told you that?"

"No, I can't get a hold of the governor yet. Do you know a Sergeant Westley?"

Duke's eyes narrowed, "Yes, I'm aware of Sergeant Westley. He transferred in from New York about three weeks ago. He's..."

Steve's phone rang, interrupting Duke's explanation. Steve looked at the display and grimly smiled before heading for his office, "It's the governor."

"I take it you don't think much of Sergeant Westley?" Chin had noticed the slight shift in Duke's demeanor when the name was mentioned.

"Just between us, I think the man has an attitude. He hasn't been here that long but seems to think that since he was NYPD, he should be allowed more leeway than he is currently receiving and we should all fall to our knees in gratitude at his presence."

Chin, Kono and Duke all jumped as Steve's angry voice clearly carried through the open office space. They turned to find Steve pacing his office and angrily arguing into his phone. After a moment, he angrily slammed his fist down onto his desk, obviously wishing he could throw his phone as far away as possible. He stormed out to face the others but couldn't seem to form words immediately.

"Steve, what is it?" Chin prodded. "What did the governor say?"

"The governor said we are 'in no way to interfere with the open investigation led by Sergeant Westley into the disappearance of Mr. Williams, formerly of Five-0.' He said we are too close to it, and we are to let it go!"

"What?!" Duke and Chin questioned together. Kono bit her lip.

"He didn't even call him Detective. He called him Mister!" Steve continued to fume. "He said Danny had made his choice when he walked out on Five-0, and he was no longer under any obligation to give him any special treatment."

The normally reserved Chin had to stop his jaw from dropping at the news. "Danny didn't walk out on Five-0. Whatever trouble he's having, we're still his ohana. We need to help him."

Steve nodded, "Agreed. I don't know what trouble Danny's been in the last few weeks, but we need to start looking into it. Maybe it's related to an old case."

"Or Grace," Chin forced himself to calm down and think rationally. "You know Grace has been gone with Rachel all summer. Maybe there's more going on with that than we thought."

"He was very touchy when I asked about Grace a few days ago," Steve remembered. "But what would that have to do with him getting abducted? Kono, what do you think?"

Kono worried her lip a little and was about to respond when Steve's phone indicated a new text message.

"What the hell?" Steve read it and marched over to the smart table, the others quickly following.

"What is it?" Duke wondered. He'd worked with the team on numerous occasions but felt a little out of sync with the group dynamics though that could have more to do with Danny's absence than anything else.

"It's a text from Danny," Steve explained.

"That's good, right?" Duke was confused as to why they all looked stunned.

Chin's fingers flew over the smart table, but he glanced at Duke momentarily, "Danny dropped his phone when he was snatched."

"Kamekona saw him drop it, but Sergeant Westley wouldn't let me have it. Said it was evidence," Steve growled.

"So who has it now?" Duke wondered.

"Exactly," Chin continued to work on the computer.

"What's the message say?" Kono asked. "And do we know for sure it's from Danny and not just sent from his phone?"

"It sounds like Danny," Steve's lip curled up slightly at the corner as he read the message. "steve meet me at north shore docks warehouse two hours come alone you neanderthal animal."

"Looks like Danny's goofy thumbs sent it," Kono commented as she leaned over to look at the phone. "He never does use caps or punctuation, and I can't get him to abbreviate anything."

"As far as I can tell," Chin interjected. "It did originate from Danny's phone. I can't get a signal from it now though. The GPS transponder in his car has also been disabled."

"Danny's done that before," Kono noted.

"But he's not the only one who would know to do that," Steve pondered.

"So what do we do?" Chin wondered.

"Steve, let me know what I can do to help," Duke told them all. "I can make sure to pull in officers that won't let it get back to Sergeant Westley or the governor. Just let me know."

"Thanks, Duke, I do think we'll need your help. I'll give you a call when I know how." Steve nodded and watched as he left their office.

"We have two hours. That's not a lot of time considering we don't even know what we're up against," Chin pointed out.

"I have an idea," Steve told them.

"Um, Boss," Kono took a deep breath and nodded to herself as if coming to an important decision. She put a hand on his arm and stopped him before he could go into his full explanation. "I think there's something you need to know first..."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: It's bonus chapter day! Because it's Monday and because I've had a frustrating day, I decided that you needed an extra chapter. We're back to Danny, and some of your questions will start to be answered now.

* * *

Now, one week after Danny had stormed out of HQ, he was standing in a dirty warehouse by the docks with a gun trained on his former partner. Steve stood with hands clasped behind his head and simply stared at the man who used to be his best friend. His confidante. His brother. His eyes never wavered as he stared across the ten feet separating them. Ten feet that felt as wide as the Grand Canyon.

"What are you waiting for?" a voice growled to Danny's right. "Shoot him before his backup arrives."

Danny sneered, "He doesn't have backup coming. He never calls for backup. That was my job."

Steve continued to simply stare at Danny. There might have been a twitch at the corner of his mouth and slight crinkle around his eyes to betray what he was thinking, but Danny was the only one who saw it.

"C'mon, already," another voice, this one to Danny's left. "We need to get going before someone gets wise to us."

"He's right," a raspy voice from behind Danny declared. "Mr. Williams, if you would be so kind as to shoot Commander McGarrett now, we could go about the business of finding you a place in my organization."

Danny smiled, "You heard the boss." He emphasized 'boss' while he waggled the gun at Steve. "Down on your knees. No funny business or the two guys behind you will take you down."

Steve glared even as he followed directions and got down on his knees, hands still behind his head, "You're enjoying this a little too much, Danno."

Danny rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, "How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?" He leveled the gun at Steve while Steve just stared at him.

"Do it!" the man behind Danny thundered.

Danny curled his finger around the trigger as he locked eyes with Steve. At the last moment he pulled the gun up and fired over Steve's head to take out the man directly behind Steve. He then adjusted to the right a little to take down the man next to him.

Steve was on the move the moment Danny's aim shifted. He launched himself at the thug to his right, Danny's left. He deftly pulled his knife from its ankle sheath as he rose from the ground and hurled it at the large man Danny had identified as the boss of the operation before grabbing the bodyguard's wrist and forcing him to his knees with a swift jerk that broke the man's wrist. He caught the gun that dropped from the man's lax fingers as he cried out in pain.

The new mob boss saw all his plans fall apart as his two henchmen behind their prisoner were felled by Williams. He was furious for being duped by the man. He quickly lifted his own gun and aimed for the detective. Just as he was pulling the trigger, an intense pain traveled down the underside of his arm. His gun skittered away as he fell to the ground, Steve's knife lodged in his left armpit but not before he managed to pull the trigger.

As Danny fired to take down the two threats behind Steve, he prayed that he was wrong about Steve calling for backup as it was currently the two of them against the mob boss and his four henchmen who had disarmed Steve on his arrival though Danny noted that they hadn't found his knife when they patted him down. Danny had no idea if there were any more thugs out there. Out of the corner of his eye Danny saw Steve throw the knife but didn't take the time to worry about whether or not he'd hit his mark as he turned to take on the two guys on the other side of him. As he started to turn, pain exploded in his upper left thigh, and he fell to the ground. He managed to keep hold of his gun and gritting his teeth against the pain, rolled onto his stomach and shot the guy on his right just as the man pulled the trigger. The bullets passed harmlessly over him but straight to where he knew Steve was standing.

Steve heard the mob boss fire and saw Danny go down just as he took the gun away from his wounded opponent. He immediately spun and dropped to a knee to cover Danny and fired on the last man standing at the same moment Danny pulled the trigger. The man's trigger finger flexed convulsively as he was thrown backwards, his bullets never coming close to Steve either.

Danny pushed himself to a sitting position as he scanned the area. He turned around to find Steve grinning at him and nodded.

Steve nodded back at Danny before quickly securing his squirming prisoner with a zip tie that appeared out of nowhere. He headed over to the leader and knelt to remove his knife from the man's armpit. Steve managed not to chuckle at the confused look on the man's face. Ignoring his grunt of pain, Steve flipped him over and producing yet another zip tie, secured him. He then checked on the other suspects who were prone on the floor. He kicked their guns away, but after checking for a pulse, found none on any of them. He next went to Danny and knelt beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Danny, you okay?"

Danny sat up and reached a hand up to Steve to be helped to his feet, but before he could respond, two more shots rang out. Danny's hand was wrenched from Steve's and he was thrown back to the floor, blood soaking the front of his shirt.

Steve immediately crouched next to Danny in a defensive, protective stance with gun raised towards the shadows where his brain belatedly told him he'd seen muzzle flashes.

"Now, now, Commander, I would suggest you put your weapon down," a voice came from the shadows. "I can very easily take you down and then finish the job on Mr. Williams if need be."

"Detective Williams," Steve growled. "I would think you would recognize the importance of rank... Sergeant."

"Ah, so you figured that part out, did you?" Sergeant Westley stepped from the shadows, gun trained on Steve.

"Wasn't too hard," Steve commented, keeping his gun trained on the rogue HPD officer. "Danny dropped his phone at the shrimp truck, but then used it to send me a message. Not very smart on your part, Westley. But that wasn't your idea, I bet. That's quite the family resemblance you and your boss there have. Brothers?"

"Twins, if you must know," Westley smiled. "We like the divide and conquer method of having him in charge and me on the inside feeding information and making sure we have smooth sailing for our operations. Now, drop your weapon, Commander."

"Why? So you can shoot me? Then what?" Steve kept his gun on him as he approached. He desperately wanted to check on Danny, but didn't dare at this point. "They'll trace ballistics back to your gun."

"All this gun will trace back to is an unsolved murder which the Yakuza is suspected of being involved in. Drop your weapon."

"Not gonna happen," Steve told him grimly.

"I think your loyalty is misguided, Commander," Sergeant Westley commented. "I don't know why Williams did what he did, but from what I observed, he was serious about leaving Five-0. And even if he stays with Five-0, he's been lying to you for weeks now. How can you trust him after all that he's said and done the last few weeks?"

"He's my partner," Steve explained. "He earned my trust a long time ago and doesn't need to prove anything to me. I don't think I can explain that to you, Westley."

"You're a fool, Commander," Westley sneered. "Maybe they'll choose me as your replacement for Five-0. After all, I'm pretty sure I can explain what happened here when I call it in, and by the time units roll in here, I'll have the scene all set up the way I want it."

"You're the fool, Westley," Steve smirked. "Do you really think I came in here without backup?"

Westley faltered, "Williams wasn't lying when he said you don't call for backup. I've heard that around HPD. Besides, I've been monitoring the radio since you got the message, you never brought in any help thanks to the governor giving me permission to run the investigation."

"This is your last chance, Westley," Steve's voice hardened. "Put down your weapon and get on your knees."

"Nice try..." Westley never got any farther as once again a shot rang out in the warehouse. Westley's gun went flying as the shot from the doorway took him down.

Chin and Kono rushed forward to secure the crooked HPD sergeant. Chin flipped him over, ignoring the grunt of surprise and pain from the man. "Nice shot, Cuz. He'll be alive to stand trial."

"He's lucky," Kono's voice was hard.

As soon as Steve heard Kono's shot and saw Westley fall, he quickly turned to Danny and pressed his hands to the two bullet wounds. Danny groaned and his eyes flew open to meet Steve's panic-filled eyes, "Hang on, Danny. Help's on the way."

Danny's mouth worked, but he was unable to do anything more than groan. Blood stained the corners of his mouth.

"Don't! Don't try to talk, Danny," Steve pleaded. "Just stay still. EMS is on the way."

Danny's eyes bore into Steve's, begging for forgiveness. He glanced over at Kono and Chin who were now flanking Steve, and he tried to smile for all of them. He painfully reached for Chin's hand then grabbed one of Steve's wrists, squeezed and gasped, "Sorry." Then his eyes rolled back and he went limp.

* * *

A/N: I never said I wouldn't end it on a cliffhanger though...


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thank you all for your patience and as always, for the lovely reviews, follows, and favorites. Here are more answers to your questions.

* * *

_"I think there's something you need to know first..."_

_Steve remembered the look on Kono's face as she uttered those words. It was a mixture of fear and relief. Fear of his reaction to what she was about to say, and relief that she was finally going to tell him._

_"Danny's undercover."_

_"He's what?!" Steve had practically yelled. "What the hell is he doing undercover, and why do you know about it and I don't?"_

_Kono sighed, "Denning had him undercover trying to flush out the new mob we've been investigating. Danny wanted to tell you. He fought to tell you, but Denning insisted no one know about it so it was more believable."_

_"So how do you know about it?" Steve was hurt and confused as much as he tried not to be._

_"Danny brought me in after a few days. He convinced Denning that someone else needed to know. Plus, he needed to use Adam's connections so it made sense to bring me in to help him get in touch with Adam without drawing suspicion. I'm sorry."_

_Chin laid a hand on Kono's arm as tears sprang to her eyes._

_"Danny wanted to tell you. He did. It really tore him up not to be able to tell you. He even threatened to quit once if Denning didn't let you in on it."_

Steve took a deep breath just as he had after Kono had shared her secret and they'd moved on to planning his meet with Danny at the warehouse. Now, he looked down at his hands which were once again pressed to his partner's bloody torso. He hadn't really given the paramedics a chance to refuse his company in the ambulance, and it had turned out to be a good thing as he'd been kept busy helping to care for his partner.

"How much longer?" The medic in back shouted to his partner up front.

"Five minutes," the driver yelled back over the wailing sirens.

"I don't know if he has five minutes!"

Steve felt the ambulance accelerate and looked at his partner's face which was much too pale. Danny was losing so much blood, and Steve was powerless to do more than hold the bandages on his partner as they soaked up more blood than they could handle. "Hang in there, Danny. Just hang on."

The ambulance screeched to a stop and before he knew it, Steve was being forced away from Danny's side as he was whisked into the ER in a frenzy of activity. Steve followed numbly and then stood helplessly near the admitting desk. He didn't even acknowledge the nurse approaching him until she laid a gentle hand on his elbow and said, "Sir? Sir, are you injured? Do you need some help?"

Steve's reverie was broken by her touch, and he suddenly noticed everyone in the vicinity had stopped what they were doing to stare at him. "Am I injured?"

"Yes, do you need help?" She gestured at him.

Steve looked down and realized that not only were his hands covered in blood, but his shirt was soaked with it, too. No wonder they thought he was injured. "No, I'm okay. It's not my blood. It's... uh, it's my partner's."

The nurse nodded in understanding, "Come with me." The nurse led him to an employee restroom and handed him the heavy duty soap and a scrub brush. "Take your time. We can find you some scrubs if you want."

Steve shook his head, "That's okay. Thanks." Steve locked himself in the bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. He was having a hard time looking away from his blood stained shirt and hands. Finally, he took a deep breath and literally shook himself to break out of his daze. It took him five minutes to scrub his hands clean. There was nothing he could do about his shirt, but when Chin brought his truck back, he'd get a shirt out of the bag he kept in there for just such occasions.

Chin and Kono were waiting for Steve when he emerged from the restroom, hands raw from scrubbing. Chin handed him his duffel bag, "Might as well go right back in and change, Brah."

"Thanks," Steve accepted the bag and stepped back out of the bathroom a moment later with a fresh shirt on. "You guys made good time."

"Duke's taking care of the suspects... well, Max has some of them," Chin told him. Kono held back a little. "So we came as fast as we could. Any word?"

Steve shook his head, "He's lost so much blood," Steve's eyes darkened as the image of his blood-soaked partner intruded on his thoughts again. It was going to take a long time to shake that image. "The paramedics said he was bad. Really bad. They think one of the bullets got a lung, too. He, uh... he was having trouble breathing."

"C'mon," Chin grabbed his elbow to help steer him back down the hall and give him a little emotional and physical support that Steve would be sure to decline as a sign of weakness if he took the time to think about it. "Let's go see where we can wait, and see when they'll be able to give us some news."

Kono followed behind Chin and Steve as they went back to the main nurse's station. She walked about five paces behind, hugging her arms to herself as if cold.

Chin approached the nurse's station to explain the situation, "I'm Lieutenant Kelly with Five-0. Detective Danny Williams was just brought in a little while ago. Is there someplace we can wait? We'd also like an update on his condition as soon as possible."

"Our ER waiting room is right through there," the nurse pointed to a room already occupied with half a dozen people. He suddenly looked at the entrance doors where several people were coming into the ER.

Chin looked at the doors and then back to the nurse, "I think we're going to need our own room." He nodded at Officer Robertson and the other two HPD officers who had just entered. Right on their heels was the governor and two of his aides.

As soon as Steve saw the governor enter the hospital, he charged over, "What the hell were you thinking putting Danny undercover?! I should have known about it! It was much too dangerous for him to do on his own! It put us all in danger by not knowing about it!"

Governor Denning held up a hand as one of his aides started to step towards Steve, "It's okay. Commander McGarrett has every right to be mad at me. How is Detective Williams doing?"

"I don't know," Steve was still practically yelling as he paced two steps away and came back to face the governor again, running a hand through his hair and then letting out an impatient breath, oblivious to the stares he was getting from the waiting room. "It's not good. He was shot three times and lost a lot of blood."

Denning winced, and then looked over at the nurse who was hesitantly approaching.

"Sir," the nurse addressed the governor and Steve at the same time. "We have a room for you to wait in if you'd like. The conference room one floor up is available, and I'll make sure the doctors know where you are."

Steve hesitated, he knew that one floor up wasn't too far away, but it still felt like a huge distance separating him from his partner. He felt like he'd been separated from him for weeks thanks to his strange behavior. His undercover behavior, he corrected himself and felt himself grow angry again.

"Thank you," the governor acknowledged as the group started to follow the nurse as he showed them the way to the conference room.

"I should have been told," Steve insisted again. "It should have been my call to decide if we needed someone undercover, and who was right for the mission. It was far too risky for Danny to go in alone. I should have had his back."

"Commander, I understand your frustration."

"Frustration?!" Steve roared. "I am more than frustrated!"

Denning held up a hand to interrupt, "And your anger. I approached Detective Williams knowing that he was more than capable of doing the job. The FBI had contacted my office about a possible connection to this new mob on the islands. With the information given to me, there was a strong possibility that there was an inside man either in HPD or the FBI field office. I needed someone who could convince this mob that they had the right skills for the organization and with the desire to relocate to the mainland. Detective Williams seemed to fit the bill. I knew there was no chance of him being the mole, and with his natural tendency to verbalize his displeasure loudly and at great length, he seemed a perfect fit."

"This will be the last time one of my team goes undercover without my consent," Steve warned him. "We work best as a team, and if we can't trust each other and know what's going on, then it's not worth it."

"I understand, Commander," Denning nodded. "I regret that it came to this, but if it's any consolation, Detective Williams did a stellar job, and I believe we will be able to take care of locking down any further trouble from this particular organization. And by uncovering Sergeant Westley, we have made HPD stronger again by taking a problem element from their ranks. Detective Williams was just as upset with me when I first presented him with the idea, I must say," Governor Denning smiled as he thought of the tongue lashing he had received that day. "He was quite adamant that you should be brought in on the plan. When he finally accepted that he couldn't do that, he did convince me to bring in Officer Kalakaua for support. I understand that she was outstanding in her help and connections as well. You have a good team, Commander."

Steve was saved a reply by the conference room door opening again. Ever hopeful that it was a doctor or nurse with an update on Danny, he spun around. He tried not to look disappointed when he saw that it was Adam.

Adam entered the conference room, eyes roaming the room until he found Kono who was hunched in the corner, elbows on knees and head in hands. He glanced at Steve and the governor but seemed oblivious to the tension between the two men as he rushed to the other side of the room, "Kono!"

Kono looked up wearily and then stood, allowing him to embrace her protectively. "Oh, Adam, it's all my fault."

Despite the fact that Kono had whispered, Steve and Chin still heard her and went over. Steve put a hand on her shoulder, "Kono, none of this is your fault."

"Why would you say that?" Chin wondered, dumbfounded.

Kono took a small step back from Adam who kept an arm around her shoulders for support, "I should have told you both. We would have been better prepared for today if you'd known."

Steve shook his head, "Kono, none of this is your fault. You helped Danny as best you could. I know that. You held up your end of things, and you told me what was going on when I most needed to know."

"Yeah, Cuz," Chin agreed. "We all know that Danny won't blame you. You did what you could."

"I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you, Commander. Chin," Adam told the two men. "When Danny approached me, he made it very clear that I was not to involve the two of you. And as a matter of fact, most of what Danny needed was taken care of through an associate of mine so that I only talked to him a few times."

"Dennis Okuna," Chin breathed. "He's still one of yours? We had word that he was trying to form a new faction and take you down?"

Adam half smiled, "Dennis has been helping me root out problems in my organization. It was best if people thought he was trying to turn on me."

"And that made Danny more believable to the mainlander mob," Steve nodded. "But why did Danny need money and a gun?"

"Danny knew he was being watched at times," Adam told them. "He thought it would make his cover more believable if he was seen meeting with Dennis and getting a suspicious package. Especially if it contained a large amount of cash. Besides, he said he needed more money to buy beer and throw around at bars."

"He did seem to be doing a lot of that," Steve noted, still worried about that.

Kono noticed the look on his face and smiled for the first time in hours, "Don't worry, Boss. He wasn't drinking as much as you thought he was."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Yeah, he was hitting it pretty hard at the bar I found him in," Chin noted. "He had some shots before I got there and had another one after I got there."

Kono's smile widened, "Did you ask him what the shot was?"

"He said it was water, but..." Chin stopped, perplexed.

"And you assumed he was just being sarcastic, and it had to be something else, right?" Kono pointed out.

Chin nodded, "You mean it really was water? But he was so tipsy when he got up."

"And he reeked of alcohol every time I tried to talk to him," Steve didn't look convinced. "And his apartment was littered with empty cans and bottles... How do you know he wasn't drunk?"

"Do you really think Danny would be drinking and driving? He told me he was worried that you two would catch on. He said he was afraid to look you in the eye because you'd notice his eyes weren't bloodshot."

Chin and Steve looked at each other, dumbfounded. Chin found his voice first, "I just thought that was more of him trying to avoid us and drive us away."

"And how did you two talk without giving it away to whoever was watching?" Steve wondered.

"I may or may not have used a disguise or two to get into his apartment late at night," Kono hedged with a devious look that dared them to ask what the disguises were.

Steve shook his head, "You know what, I don't even want to know."

The almost light-hearted moment was broken by the door opening to admit a nurse. Steve was instantly on the alert.

"Commander McGarrett?"

Steve nodded, afraid to say anything.

The nurse looked around the room at all the people and back to Steve, "How about if we talk outside where it's more private?"

Steve gulped. No good had ever come from a medical professional uttering those words. "Whatever you have to say, you can say it here. We're his ohana." He felt Chin standing to his left, Kono on his right with Adam behind her, comforting hand on her shoulder. Their presence was what kept him going despite the situation.

The nurse nodded, "As you wish, Commander. I was sent to update you on Detective Williams' status."

Steve nodded, holding his breath and trying not to fear the worst.

"Detective Williams is in surgery. The bullet wound to his upper left thigh was a clean through and through with only minor tissue damage," the nurse explained expertly. "He sustained two bullet wounds to his torso. Neither of these exited the body. The surgeons have removed one bullet which seems to have missed all vital organs, but the other bullet ricocheted off a rib and lodged in a lung. They are working on repairing this damage right now."

The rest of the team and Adam seemed to let out a collective breath. Chin squeezed Steve's arm knowing that he'd been expecting the worst when the nurse first approached them. "How's he doing?"

"He's lost a lot of blood, but the surgeons wanted me to assure you that he's doing remarkably well considering the amount of trauma he's endured. There are two surgeons working on him to minimize the amount of time he's under sedation and in surgery. Someone will be in again to let you know when he's out of surgery."

"Thank you," Steve released a nervous breath. "Thank you."

"He's strong, Brah," Chin assured him. "He'll pull through."

As the group waited for more word on Danny, more and more people joined them. Charlie, Max, Duke, several more HPD officers and even Kamekona were waiting to hear when two doctors walked in some time later.

The first doctor smiled tiredly as he walked into the conference room and saw the anxious faces. The room fell silent as Steve and the rest of the team stepped forward. The doctor held out a hand, "Five-0, I presume?"

Steve shook his hand and gestured to the people around him, "Lieutenant Kelly, Officer Kalakaua, and..."

"The rest of our ohana," Chin supplied.

"How's Danny?" Kono got down to business.

The second doctor, a middle-aged woman with short, dark hair took over, "Detective Williams is out of surgery and in recovery at the moment. He tolerated the surgery very well. I understand a nurse was in earlier with a brief update so I won't go over everything. We did remove the bullet from the lung and resolved the partial lung collapse he suffered. He is on supplemental oxygen for the time being, but so far he's looking good. We will, of course, continue to monitor that injury and make sure his lung is not further compromised."

"Detective Williams will be moved to ICU shortly," the first doctor, a younger man with bright blue eyes, explained. "We'll keep him there for at least a couple of days to monitor his condition. He suffered a fair amount of trauma and is still receiving blood transfusions to replace what was lost."

"When can I see him?" Steve wanted to know.

"As soon as he's moved to ICU, we can allow one person at a time. It's going to be a couple hours yet so if you'd like to go and come back..."

"I'll be here," Steve interrupted. "Just let me know as soon as possible, please."

The doctors nodded, "We'll inform the nurse's station and someone will come get you when he's been moved, but remember only one person at a time."

"Thank you, Doctors," Governor Denning stepped forward to shake their hands. He walked out with them to express his gratitude for their care and expertise.

After the doctors brought word of Danny's condition, the conference room slowly cleared out until only Steve, Chin, Kono and Adam remained. Steve paced the room, anxiously checking the time every few minutes. Finally, when he didn't think he could stand it any longer, a nurse came in and smiled, "Commander McGarrett? Doctor Thie said I could take you to Detective Williams now."

Steve hesitated, but Chin urged him on, "Go ahead, Brah. We're gonna go now, but we'll be back in the morning. Call us if there's any news."

Steve hesitated and looked at the others. He noticed Kono still wouldn't meet his gaze. He went over and tipped her chin up to force her to look at him, "Hey, none of this is your fault, you got that? It's over. You did good, and Danny will be fine."

Kono nodded, not trusting her voice. She simply reached up and gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you," Adam reached for a handshake.

Steve shook his hand and then also gave him a brief hug, "Thank you for doing what you could to keep an eye on him."

Chin waved off whatever Steve was going to say to him and pushed him gently in the door's direction, "Go. We'll be here in the morning."

Steve hurried after the nurse, door closing quietly behind him.

* * *

A/N2: Some of you were very close on your guesses as to what was going on, but it was great to hear everyone's thoughts and theories. Two more chapters to go.


	9. Chapter 9

_Danny flexed his hands against the restraints holding his arms down for at least the fifth time in as many minutes. He was sitting in a chair in an abandoned office but other than that, he had no idea where he was. His head was pounding from when he was hit and shoved into his car, and though he hadn't lost consciousness, he'd been unable to focus on where they were headed, especially since they had thrown something over his head. He was getting really tired of that happening to him. He flexed his hands again and wondered at the handcuffs securing him to the chair. His kidnappers had come prepared; his cuffs were back in his apartment._

_The door creaked open and Danny had his first look at his captors. A rather young looking man walked in flanked by two thugs. The leader was kind of scrawny_ lo_oking at first glance, with flame red hair and a thin goatee. "So,this is Mr. Williams, formerly of Five-0. I've heard you were looking for me."_

_Danny eyed the man and shrugged, "Who are you?"_

_"My name is irrelevant for now, but what is relevant is that it appears you are out of a job. A man of your skill set could come in handy in my organization."_

_"And what organization is that?" Danny wondered._

_"I believe you've been trying to figure that out for a while now, haven't you?" The man answered smugly. __"It's been fun watching the great Five-0 spin its wheels and come apart at the seams. I must admit though that I was surprised that you of all people turned your back on your team and were looking to change sides."_

_Again, Danny shrugged and held his hands up as best he could, palms up, "I needed a change of scenery. Besides you pay better, and if I'm going to keep custody of my daughter, I'm going to need that."_

_"Well, if you are what we are looking for, we might be able to arrange that. We have openings back in New York for just the right person, and with your background, you might be the right fit."_

_Danny jingled the cuffs on his wrists, "And this is how you treat a potential employee?"_

_The man shrugged and smiled, "It is until you prove you are on the up and up."_

_"And how am I going to do that while handcuffed to a chair?" Danny scoffed._

_"I have something I need you to do for me," he smiled._

_"What is that?" Danny didn't like the look of that smile._

_The man tossed Danny's cell phone into his lap, "I need you to send Commander McGarrett a message and get him here."_

_Danny looked at the phone suspiciously, "I don't even know where 'here' is."_

_He tossed a piece of paper on top of Danny's phone and gestured to one of the thugs to uncuff his hands. "There's the information you need to get him here."_

_"And then what?" Danny wondered as he picked up his phone._

_"And then you kill him."_

Danny remembered being taken to the warehouse and cuffed to the old chair. He remembered the raspy voice of the mob boss and how he thought it didn't fit the red-haired goateed man. He remembered all his suspicions being confirmed when his phone was tossed in his lap. He knew he'd dropped it at the shrimp truck; he'd done it on purpose even though he hadn't known that would be the moment they'd snatch him. He'd made sure to be predictable with that one thing in his life so that was the likeliest place for the mob to approach him.

Suddenly, he remembered holding a gun on Steve in the warehouse. He remembered the complete trust in Steve's eyes even as Danny had ordered him to his knees to seemingly execute him. Danny's breath hitched as all this came to him in a rush. He struggled against the blackness that kept him captive now.

"Hey, Danny," Steve leaned over the hospital bed. "Danny, it's okay. Calm down, and just open your eyes. You're okay."

Danny's eyes flew open and the heart monitor slowly began to resume a more normal rhythm than a mere moment before. He quickly locked eyes with Steve and smiled, "Hey," he managed to croak as he licked dry lips.

Steve quickly let him have a sip of water that was close at hand. "Hey, Partner. Good to have you back."

Danny fought against the pain medicine that was trying to pull him back to sleep. "You still want me as your partner? After everything I've said? Everything I've put you through the last few weeks?"

"I won't say that I'm not really upset with you for not telling me what's going on," Steve told him. "But I understand why you didn't... why you couldn't, and I've already given Denning a piece of my mind about that."

"Do you still have a job?" Danny smiled, eyes closing wearily before he made the effort to open them again.

Steve ignored the rhetorical question, "But there won't be a next time. No more undercover ops for anyone without the rest of us knowing, okay? I'm still not sure why you agreed to Denning's cockamamie plan anyway."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Denning was getting pressure from the Feds to take over the case, and he didn't really want that. It made sense for me to be the one undercover."

Steve waited for Danny to catch his breath again. He could admit that Danny was probably the best choice for undercover in this instance and had obviously fooled the mainlander mob into believing he was so unhappy. And there were probably many in HPD who had helped fuel that belief in Westley considering Danny's past vocal protestations about his presence in Hawaii.

Danny's eyes remained closed and Steve thought he was asleep until he heard Danny mutter, "Had to protect our islands, Babe."

Steve could only grin at his now sleeping partner.

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A/N: Only one more chapter to go, folks. It's been a fun ride and a pleasure to read all of your thoughts. Thanks for reading.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Well, here we have our last chapter, folks. It's been a fun ride, and I hope you've enjoyed it. Thank you all so much for the reviews, follows and favorites; it means a lot to me that so many people have enjoyed my story.

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Danny sat in his hospital bed with the head raised slightly, eyes closed and an arm draped protectively around his abdomen. It was the first day since he'd been shot that he felt mostly human. Unfortunately, that meant that he'd had time to think, and all he could think about was how he'd treated his friends the last few weeks. He shifted slightly in the bed which elicited a grimace and a moment of breathlessness as he willed down the pain in his chest. He didn't reach for the controls for the pain medication he could administer himself; the pain served as a form of penance for the pain he'd inflicted on his friends. His ohana.

Danny didn't know how long he lay there brooding, but the more he thought about what he'd said to his friends, and how he'd said it, the worse he felt. Yes, there were many times since they'd met that he'd wanted to punch his partner, but he felt bad that he'd actually done it this time around when Steve didn't really deserve it. And even though Kono had been in on it, he felt bad that she'd been forced to lie to the others as well. Eyes still closed, Danny heard the door to his room open. Without looking, he knew it was his ohana.

"He's sleeping," Chin whispered.

"We should let him rest," Kono whispered back.

Steve studied Danny for a moment and somehow even in his combat boots, stepped soundlessly to his bedside. Steve leaned down so he was inches from Danny's face and whispered, "He's not sleeping. Are you, Danno?"

Without moving, Danny replied, "Very good, Steven, now get out of my face."

Steve stepped back and smirked from across the room when Danny finally opened his eyes. He noticed the small crinkles around Danny's eyes and knew his partner was in pain. He frowned, not understanding why he wouldn't press the button for the pain medicine.

"How ya feelin', Brah?" Chin wondered.

Danny offered a small smile, "A little more human today."

"That's good," Kono smiled.

Danny's gaze flickered over his teammates briefly and settled on Steve. Since his initial awakening and brief conversation with Steve which he barely remembered, they'd avoided talking about Danny's undercover assignment. Danny hadn't been up to it, and he knew Steve wouldn't push the issue just yet, but it had hung in the air and lurked in the corners until Danny couldn't stand it anymore.

Steve leaned on the wall at the foot of Danny's bed and watched as Danny came to a decision with himself. Steve nodded at him, knowing they were finally going to discuss the circumstances that had brought them all here in the first place.

Danny cleared his throat and gestured for them all to sit. Steve remained standing while continuing to watch his partner. Chin moved the visitor's chair closer to the bed while Kono perched on the side of Danny's bed down by his feet. Danny looked at them all again before taking as deep a breath as he dared without causing his lung to protest and looked at Kono, "Kono, I'd like to thank you and apologize to you."

Kono shook her head, "You don't have to do that."

Danny nodded, "Yes, I do. First, thank you for standing with me the last several weeks. Without your support, I could not have done this assignment. I've always hated undercover work, but we all know that it's sometimes necessary to get the job done. I'm sorry I had to bring you in on it and made you lie to everyone."

Kono smiled, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I'm glad I could help you even if it wasn't much. And Adam is honored that you trusted him enough to let him help."

"I've already talked to Adam," Danny informed her causing her eyes to widen in surprise. Danny rolled his head to look over at Chin. "You, my friend, are hard to lie to. I'm still not sure how you found me in that bar; I'm convinced you tracked my phone." Danny's eyes narrowed as he noted Chin's enigmatic smile. "I appreciate you being there for me and trying to find out what was bothering me. You have no idea how much it meant to me that you tracked me down and wanted to help. Thank you."

Chin leaned in, elbow on Danny's bed, and clasped his hand in a bro shake. He grinned, "You've been there for me, Brah. I'll be there for you whenever you need, like it or not."

Steve watched as Danny shifted his gaze to him. Part of him wanted to just stop his friend right then and there and not put them both through the pain of talking about what had happened. The bigger part of him knew that words were important to Danny and letting him say what he needed to say would help ease his mind. Danny had been hesitant around him, and he knew they both needed to have this conversation. He waited patiently for Danny to speak his mind. At least with the injured lung Steve was sure Danny's rant would be less forceful than usual.

Danny looked at his partner, best friend and, though they didn't often acknowledge it, boss. He had treated Steve the worst during his undercover stint, and he still hadn't forgiven himself for it. He'd always been good with words, but this time, he wasn't sure that what he was about to say would be anywhere close to adequate, "Steve, I know you'll be surprised to hear this, but I really don't know what to say."

Steve smiled but didn't interrupt, sure that Danny would come up with words anyway.

"Sorry just doesn't cut it, but it's what I have. I'm sorry I did this behind your back. I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm sorry I kicked you out of my apartment. I'm sorry about what I said and how I said it," Danny allowed himself a small quirk of a smile as he took a breath. "I'm even sorry I punched you... this time."

Steve huffed out a breath and rubbed his jaw at the remembered punch, but his eyes twinkled his forgiveness.

"I really did want to tell you... to tell all of you... what was going on," Danny stated. "I even started to tell you that night at the shrimp truck when you caught me there, but I noticed my tail and didn't want to risk everything should we be overheard. I'm sorry I didn't just ignore Denning and tell you all anyway."

Steve noticed Danny's growing fatigue and pain lines increasing and decided he'd really heard enough anyway. He rocked himself off the wall and came over to stand next to Danny's bed while Chin moved out of his chair and sat on the side of the bed with Kono who leaned forward. Steve looked at them all and leaned down on the side rail just a bit, "We all forgive you, Danny. You don't even really need to ask, but we appreciate it. I'm sorry you felt alone during this, and I hope you remember what I've been trying to get through your thick skull for all these years: you are not as alone on this island as you think you are. I meant what I said when we first formed this task force. We are ohana now, and we look out for each other."

"Ohana," Chin and Kono echoed as Chin took Danny's fist in his hand followed by Kono placing her hand on top of Chin's. Finally, Steve put his hand on top of them all.

Danny smiled at them all, "Thank you."

Steve's serious face and tone turned mischievous in a heartbeat, and he almost laughed at Danny's quizzical look when he saw it happen. Steve leaned down even further, not letting anyone release their hands just yet, "Besides, Danno, you told me yourself why you agreed to do this undercover op for Denning."

"I did?" Danny looked confused. "When did I do that?"

Steve's smile widened, "When you woke up that first time after surgery. You told me that you had to protect our islands. Our, Danno. You've finally admitted that this island is yours, too."

Danny's frown didn't reach his eyes as he looked at them all. He slowly reached for the button on the pain medicine with his other hand, pushed it and allowed his eyes to close as he already felt the relief flooding his system. He swore he could feel their grins. He finally slit open his eyes and shrugged, "Huh... musta been the drugs talking."

The others burst out laughing, relieved that things were already getting back to normal. That feeling increased when Danny muttered, "The real reason I did it was so I'd get to drive my own car. It must have driven you nuts not to drive it for weeks." The continued laughter was music to Danny's ears as he fell asleep.

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A/N: Thank you again to Fifilla for planting this idea in my head and helping me work through all the plot points and finer details. You're awesome :-)


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